Atma Jaya students demand justice
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Atma Jaya University students commemorated on Tuesday the so- called Semanggi Tragedy with a call on the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to continue investigating the Semanggi and Trisakti tragedies.
Approximately 100 students from the Atma Jaya University visited Komnas HAM headquarters on Tuesday and urged the body to continue probing the fatal shootings of Trisakti and Semanggi, which killed 30 people, mostly students.
The students and some of the victims' relatives met members of the commission's Investigation Committee at its office on Jl. Latuharhari in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, as part of a ceremony to commemorate the tragedy in Semanggi in 1998.
Previously, the students and victims' relatives visited a cemetery in Joglo, West Jakarta, where they placed flowers on the grave and prayed for some of the victims buried there.
"We came here to urge the commission to investigate the cases. We also asked Komnas HAM to push the committee because these cases violated human rights," said Arief Priyadi, the father of victim Bernardinus R. Norman Irmawan.
The commission head, Albert Hasibuan, assured the group that they would continue investigating the cases. However, he asked the participants to be patient.
"We need some more time for the investigation as the cases are complicated. They are linked to one another as well as with two other incidents of the May Tragedy and kidnappings (of activists) in 1998. We have to draw parameters," Albert said.
He told the students that the commission would probably have to work until next January to finalize a comprehensive report on the cases.
The commission was originally given until Nov. 12 to finish up, when the government assigned it to work on the case three months ago.
During the dialog, the commission informed the group of the developments so far in the inquiry, claiming that the fatal shooting incidents seem closely related to the Indonesian Armed Forces' strategic policy and operations.
According to Hendardi, a member of the commission, among the evidence to be probed will be troop mobilization and bullets used to shoot the student protesters.
"Such evidence indicates the armed forces' organized efforts for a repressive agenda," said Hendardi, adding that the commission will summon senior military officials who were in charge at the time.
After the meeting, the students continued their commemoration at the Atma Jaya campus on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, which was also the massacre scene three years ago. Joined by 400 other students from Forkot (City Forum), UI (University of Indonesia) and the Victims' Family Association, they also held a ceremony, laying flowers for the victims and listening to some speeches.
In May 1998, a peaceful demonstration in front of Trisakti University turned into massacre when several police allegedly shot indiscriminately into the crowd, killing four.
The killings, known as the Trisakti Tragedy, triggered nationwide protests and forced President Soeharto to end his 32- year authoritarian rule.
A similar incident happened under his successor, President B.J. Habibie in November 1998, when security forces again opened fire on the crowd and killed 16 people at the Semanggi cloverleaf, in front of Atma Jaya's campus. The incident is known as Semanggi I.
In October 1999, the Semanggi II tragedy occurred, in which 10 more students were shot and killed during a demonstration.